WMNF is a non-commercial, community

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

operating in the city of

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...

in the U.S. state of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

that broadcasts at the FM frequency of 88.5

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...

and streaming live. The station has been on the air since September 14, 1979, and has an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would hav ...

of 6,650

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

s from antenna 1,539 feet height above average terrain. The radio station is listener sponsored, relying on supporters for about 70% majority of required funding, which is raised in three semiannual pledge drives. The station has paid operations staff, but the daily programmers and pledge drive workers are volunteers. The station is licensed to the

Nathan B. Stubblefield Nathan Beverly Stubblefield (November 22, 1860 – March 28, 1928) was an American inventor best known for his wireless telephone work. Self-described as a "practical farmer, fruit grower and electrician",

Foundation, a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

organization established solely for this purpose. The

Board of Directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

comprises programmers, volunteers, staff, and community members. WMNF hosts many concerts, speeches, films, and festivals, most notably the annual Tropical Heatwave Festival. The last Heatwave occurred in 2016.

Facilities

In 2005, WMNF moved into a new state of the art broadcast facility. The facility is located adjacent to the old studio which was demolished and now serves as a parking lot. The new facility is over with three broadcast studios, two production studios and a live performance studio named in memory of Mike Eisenstadt, longtime host of the ''Sunday Simcha'', a Jewish music and public affairs show that still airs on Sundays at 2pm. The music library is capable of storing approximately 100,000

CDs The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Octo ...

, and has about 8,000 record albums. The landscape is made up of native Florida plants. In 2007, WMNF moved to a higher antenna tower and started to broadcast a Hybrid Digital signal.

Programs and personnel

WMNF has from the beginning aired a wide variety of programming, including special interest music shows including bluegrass,

polka Polka is a dance and genre of dance music originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though associated with Czech culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the Americas. History Etymology The term ...

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and experimental. The major music styles on WMNF are

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

, considered Triple A radio. WMNF also features several hip hop shows, including one of the longest running hip hop shows in Florida, The Saturday Night Shutdown. WMNF also holds their "Flashback Friday" every Friday, where they go and broadcast hit music from the past day. It runs from 10pm to 12am. WMNF's progressive news and public affairs programs have steadily increased since the nineties. While the schedule has constantly changed (there is a review of the schedule every 2 years and there may be major or minor changes made through that process), the station has a number of long-running programs including the ''Sixties Show, the Morning Show, Caribbean Cruise, The Soul Party, Saturday Asylum'' and public affairs programs such as ''RadioActivity'' and ''From a Woman's Point of View'' (formerly ''The Women's Show)'', a show touching on

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

issues that first started running in the 1980s, ''Art in Your Ear, Talking Animals'', and ''True Talk,'' which focuses on the Middle East and the global issues Muslims face. In February 2013 WMNF also introduced to Tampa-area listeners the weekly music, arts and culture program "Life Elsewhere" hosted by veteran radio personality

Norman B. (Batley) Norman Batley is a radio personality who has hosted and programmed award-winning shows for stations in the United Kingdom, Seattle, Washington and Tampa, Florida. He is also a business entrepreneur who has created, managed and owned successful re ...

, a venerable brand that dates back to the 1970s in the Pacific Northwest.

HD channels

WMNF broadcasts four

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...

channels: * HD-1 simulcasts the main WMNF signal. * HD-2 new Indie music and music shows featuring new releases. * HD-3 The Source, which airs news, public affairs, and arts programming. * HD-4 Soul School featuring classic soul, R&B, blues, reggae and rap.

Controversies

While providing extensive public affairs programming to the greater Tampa Bay area, and perhaps because of it, WMNF has at times become the focus of controversy. In 1997, Florida state Senator John Grant zeroed out $104,000 in state funding from the annual budget, citing his displeasure at the lyrics of a song he had heard broadcast ( Iris DeMent's "Wasteland of the Free"). In response to the shortfall, the station staged an emergency fund-raiser that took in $122,000 in a day and a half. Then Programming Director, Randy Wynne indicated his belief that such difficulties arose after WMNF aired several criticisms against State Senator Grant's opposition to Olympic gold medalist diver, and outspoken LGBTQ activist Greg Louganis attending a speaking engagement at the University of South Florida.

References

External links